If you’ve never tried a fresh cranberry vodka, here’s your chance!
Don’t hate me, but I wasn’t even going to share this recipe with you.
It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and this year I’m not hosting (hallelujah!) so I’m working on putting together all of my dishes to bring to my sister’s place.
A festive cocktail is always in order, so I decided to create a riff of my favorite rain drop cocktail by working with fresh cranberries.
Once I did a little taste-testing (for quality control) this morning, I decided to snap a few pictures and get this up on the blog immediately so all my fellow last-minute-makers could have it ready by tomorrow.
Here’s what’s in the drink: fresh (homemade!) cranberry juice, freshly infused cranberry vodka, rosemary simple syrup, and a touch of sparkling water.
I just love this combination of tart cranberries and fragrant rosemary. It’s absolutely perfect for the holidays!
This works best if you plan ahead by starting this recipe the night before.
You begin by tossing some fresh cranberries and water in a blender and pulverizing the holy hell out of it.
I left this mixture in the fridge overnight for maximum infusion, but I bet you could get away with less time than that if you’re in an incredible rush.
Pour this mixture through a fine mesh strainer and collect the juice — you should have two cups.
Return all that pulpy goodness to the blender and pour in a cup of vodka. Blend it again, then strain the vodka from the pulp (no need to wait this time – alcohol is an excellent flavor extractor!).
To make the rosemary simple syrup, just combine some sugar, water, and rosemary sprigs in a little pot and boil a minute or two until the sugar is dissolved.
Mix the juice, infused vodka, and rosemary syrup together, then divide it into ice-filled rocks glasses and top with sparkling water.
I decided to go with the “mix it all together” method because I’m bringing this over to my sister’s and don’t need to spend the whole day mixing drinks for family members.
If you’d rather keep the elements separate and prepare drinks one at a time, I’ve left notes in the recipe card with precise measurements.
This recipe fills three 8.5-ounce hermetic flasks, which are incidentally super gorgeous and fun to bring to a party.
Just bring along some sparkling water and pray the host has ice (<–or be a better person than I am and bring an ice bucket and a bag of ice).
This would also make a lovely gift — just look how pretty the bottles are with some simple twine and a sprig of rosemary!
Here’s Your Recipe!
If you've never tried a fresh cranberry vodka, here's your chance! All you need is a bag of cranberries, a bottle of vodka, and a blender. For this recipe I've added homemade rosemary simple syrup to create a festive holiday cocktail!
9 hrPrep Time
5 minCook Time
9 hr, 5 Total Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 4 cups fresh cranberries, plus more for garnish
- 1 cup vodka
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 6 sprigs rosemary, plus more for garnish
- 8 ounce sparkling water
- 4 cups ice
Instructions
- Place the cranberries in the pitcher of a blender along with two cups of water. Blend on high until completely pureed with no large chunks remaining. Refrigerate overnight to infuse.
- Strain the liquid from the cranberry mixture; you should collect two cups of juice.
- Meanwhile, place 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, and 6 sprigs of fresh rosemary in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a boil; boil until sugar has dissolved. Turn off heat and allow to cool. Remove rosemary sprigs and discard.
- Return the pulp to the blender pitcher along with the cup of vodka. Blend well, strain, and mix the vodka with the collected juice to make three cups of liquid. Stir in the cooled rosemary syrup.
- Divide the ice into eight 8-ounce rocks glasses (1/2 cup each). Top each glass with just shy of a 1/4 cup of the cranberry mix (3 and 3/4 ounces).
- Top each glass with two ounces of sparkling water. Stir gently, garnish with fresh cranberries and rosemary sprigs.
Notes
If you prefer to play bartender, you may keep each of the elements separate (cranberry juice, cranberry vodka, rosemary syrup) and mix up the drinks as needed. For each drink, use 2 ounces cranberry juice, 1 ounce cranberry vodka, 3/4 ounce rosemary syrup, and 1 ounce sparkling water.
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